Top New Resources

Helping patients face death, she fought to live A palliative care doctor, faced with extensive metastatic cancer, grappled with what she recommended for patients and what she wanted for herself - which was treatment and cure, at all cost.

A Gene for Alcohol Dependence? (2 min) Scientists may have narrowed down on a gene that seems to allow some people to metabolize alcohol more quickly, which may lead to a higher likelihood of dependence. What does this mean for how we manage this condition going forward?

Clinical care for Obesity and Diet Related illnesses needs more attention to Societal Determinants of Health Article from NEJM website about how despite rates of obesity starting to level off overall, the lowest income and minority populations continue to show a sharp increase. A focus on those factors as contributory needs to be a part of the discussion.

Resources

Withholding surgery: How gaps in policy fail people who inject drugs A recent New York Times article described a harrowing situation faced by some people who inject drugs and develop endocarditis, a life-threatening infection caused by bacteria that enter the bloodstream and settle in the heart. The article described doctors in Tennessee deciding whether to perform repeat costly heart surgeries on patients who were re-infected with endocarditis as a result of ongoing illicit drug use—and at times declining to operate. There are policy failures that are to blame, too, for how and why resources are allocated this way. This looks at those failures and how our bias influences both the policies and how they are applied.

Injecting Drugs can ruin a heart - how many second chances should a user get? A life-threatening heart infection afflicts a growing number of people who inject opioids or meth. Costly surgery can fix it, but the addiction often goes unaddressed.

The Fix (whole episode - 43min) This episode we take a sober look at the throbbing, aching, craving desire states that return people (again and again) to the object of their addiction … and the pills that just might set them free.

Dying Well Is there a way to talk about death candidly, without fear ... and even with humor? How can we best prepare for it with those we love? This hour, TED speakers explore the beauty of life ... and death. When you click on the link, you can see all the little segments or listen to the whole thing. It's lovely.

Confront harm and prevent medical casualties (~10min) - LtGen Horoho Patricia Horoho, retired Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and the first woman and first nurse to serve as the Army’s Surgeon General, reveals how healthcare can cause harm by sins of commission and omission.

Shame, guilt, and the medical learner Shame and guilt are subjective emotional responses that occur in response to negative events such as the making of mistakes or an experience of mistreatment, and have been studied extensively in the field of psychology. Despite their potentially damaging effects and ubiquitous presence in everyday life, very little has been written about the impact of shame and guilt in medical education.

Everything you know about obesity is wrong 15min read - A description of obesity, weight bias, fat shaming, and a bunch of the consequences from it. A popular article, not a research article, but a comprehensive look at the topic.